Methods For Extracting Essential Oils, Terpenes, Terpenoids And Other Organic Matter From Plants; And Related Systems And Devices

ABSTRACT

A method for extracting resins and oils from a plant includes: 1) tumbling, inside a container at a temperature of at most 50 degrees Fahrenheit with a tumbler, plant fibers having one or more portions that contain resins and/or oils; 2) colliding the tumbler with the plant fibers to release the one or more portions that contain resins and/or oils from the remainder of the plant fibers; and 3) segregating the one or more portions that contain resins and/or oils from the remainder of the plant fibers.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims priority from commonly owned U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application 62/370,573 filed 3 Aug. 2016, and titled “Methods ForExtracting Essential Oils, Terpenes, Terpenoids And Other Organic MatterFrom Plants; And Related Systems And Devices”, presently pending andincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Essential oils and resins of a plant, which often include terpenes andterpenoids, are used for a variety of reasons. Some, such as theessential oils and resins from basil, lavender and frankincense, areused to enhance the aroma of a product, such as a perfume, or as anantiseptic to help heal or sooth skin. Some, such as the essential oilsand resins from garlic and tea tree, are used as an antibiotic to helpheal a wound. Some, such as the essential oils and resins from cinnamon,cloves and peppermint are used as an anesthetic. And some, such as theessential oils and resins from hops are used to flavor and preservebeverages such as beer.

Essential oils are typically volatile or easily evaporate at normaltemperatures when exposed to the environment, and terpenes andterpenoids are typically reactive with other compounds when exposed toheat, ultra-violet light, and/or oxygen. Because of this, the extractionof a plant's essential oils and/or resins is often done quickly afterthe plant has been harvested, before the harvested plant, its essentialoils, and/or its resins can decay and adversely affect the quality ofthe essential oils, terpenes and terpenoids. Such extraction istypically done by distillation, expression, or solvent extraction.Distillation involves heating the plant with steam or some othermaterial to force the essential oils or resins out of the plant'scellular structure, and then capturing the oil or resin. Expressioninvolves mechanically pressing the essential oils or resins out of theplant's cellular structure. And, solvent extraction involves exposingthe essential oil or resin by breaking down the plant's cellularstructure with a solvent.

Each of these forms of extraction work well if you want to isolate aspecific essential oil, terpene or terpenoid contained within the plant.But, sometimes one wants to concentrate the essential oil and resinscontained in a plant, not completely isolate it from the wholeplant—i.e., remove some or most of a plants cellular structure but notall of the plant's cellular structure. This is especially true with hopsand its use in the production of beer. Brewers use many of the hop'sterpenes, terpenoids and essential oils as well as other parts of thehop to flavor and preserve their beer. The terpenes, terpenoids andessential oils contained in the hop's flower (the hop's seed cone orstrobili) include alpha acids, such as humulone, cohumulone, andadhumulone; beta acids, such as lupulone, colupulone, and adlupulone;and humulene, myrcene, and caryophllene. Alpha acids add bitterness to abeer to offset the sweetness produced from grain during the brewingprocess, help prevent bacterial growth during and after the brewingprocess, and promote the growth of the yeast that converts starch andsugar into alcohol. Beta acids also add bitterness to the beer.Essential oils add flavor and aroma to the beer. Because there are manydifferent species of hops, each having a unique combination of alphaacids, beta acids and essential oils, there are many different flavorcombinations available to a brewer as well as anti-bacterial functions.

FIG. 1 shows a cross-section of a typical hop flower that contains thealpha acids, beta acids and essential oils that most brewers desire.Each hop flower includes a plurality of lupulin glands 20, in which thealpha and beta acids and the essential oils are found, surrounded byleaf-like structures called bracts 22, both of which are anchored to thestrig 24. Ideally, a brewer wants the lupulin gland intact until he putsthe hops into the wort—the sugar-rich mixture of mashed grains and waterthat can then be fermented by the yeast. In the wort, the lupulin glandbreaks down and releases the alpha acids, beta acids and essential oilsthat it contains. By keeping the alpha acids, beta acids and essentialoils contained within the lupulin gland for as long as possible, one canpreserve the freshness of desired alpha acids, beta acids and essentialoils.

Brewers brew beer continuously throughout the year, but the flowers ofhops are harvested once a year typically in August or September. So,most of the hops harvest is preserved for future use. Hops are typicallypreserved by drying them whole in a cool, dark warehouse. Once dried,they are often pelletized (compressed) and packaged in an air-tightcontainer that has most of the air removed.

Unfortunately, this process for preserving the flowers allows some ofthe alpha acids, beta acids and essential oils to breakdown, and alsoallows some of the essential oils to evaporate out of the flower. Duringthe drying process, the whole flower is dried in low-humidity air thatincludes oxygen for a week or more. The oxygen often reacts with each ofthe acids and oils and adversely changes their chemical composition andmolecular structure. And because the whole flower is typically dried,there is more surface area exposed to the oxygen in the air which allowsmore molecules to react with the oxygen. To reduce the time spent dryingthe flowers, the flowers are typically heated to a temperature that doesnot exceed 140 degrees Fahrenheit. This reduces the drying time to threedays, but promotes isomerization (a change in molecular structure) ofthe alpha acids, which adversely affects the quality of the alpha acidsdesired for beer.

Thus, there is a need for a process that preserves the desirable alphaacids, beta acids and essential oils that fresh hops contain for futureuse.

SUMMARY

In an aspect of the invention, a method for extracting resins and oilsfrom a plant includes: 1) tumbling, inside a container at a temperatureof at most 50 degrees Fahrenheit with a tumbler, plant fibers having oneor more portions that contain resins and/or oils; 2) colliding thetumbler with the plant fibers to separate the one or more portions thatcontain resins and/or oils from the remainder of the plant fibers; and3) segregating the one or more portions that contain resins and/or oilsfrom the remainder of the plant fibers.

By tumbling the plant fibers with a tumbler and colliding the tumblerinto the plant fibers, portions of the plant fibers that contain resinsand oils, which include terpenes, terpenoids and essential oils, areseparated from the remainder of the plant fiber without causing muchdamage to the portion of the plant fibers that includes the resins andoils. For hop flowers, this allows one to separate much of the unwantedportion of the hops flower—the bract and strig—from the desiredportion—the lupulin gland and the alpha acids, beta acids and essentialoils contained in it—with minimal damage to the lupulin gland. When thehop flowers and the tumbler are tumbled at a temperature of at most 50degrees Fahrenheit, the alpha acids in the lupulin gland are discouragedfrom isomerization. If the hop flowers are tumbled with the tumbler whenthe hop flowers are wet (fresh) or within a couple of days after beingharvested, and the separated lupulin glands are packaged and stored in aroom without light and oxygen, then the lupulin glands and the acids andoils that they contain can remain very close to fresh if not fresh untilthey're used to brew beer.

In another aspect of the invention, a method for extracting resins andoils from a plant includes: 1) tumbling, inside a container having anatmosphere that does not include oxygen with a tumbler, plant fibershaving one or more portions that contain resins and/or oils; 2)colliding the tumbler with the plant fibers to separate the one or moreportions that contain resins and/or oils from the remainder of the plantfibers; and 3) segregating the one or more portions that contain resinsand/or oils from the remainder of the plant fibers.

In still another aspect of the invention, a method for extracting resinsand oils from a plant includes; 1) tumbling, inside a container havingan atmosphere that does not include ultraviolet light with a tumbler,plant fibers having one or more portions that contain resins and/oroils; 2) colliding the tumbler with the plant fibers to separate the oneor more portions that contain resins and/or oils from the remainder ofthe plant fibers; and 3) segregating the one or more portions thatcontain resins and/or oils from the remainder of the plant fibers.

In yet another aspect of the invention, a device to extract resins andoils from a plant includes a container, a chassis, a motor, and acomponent operable to cool the container. The container includes a bodythat defines a cavity and is operable to hold inside the cavity: 1)plant fibers having one or more portions that contain resins and/oroils, and 2) a tumbler. The container's body has a first region thatdefines an opening through which the cavity may be accessed, and asecond region. The chassis is coupled to the container and operable tosupport the container while the container rotates about an axis. Themotor is operable to rotate the body about the axis. And, the componentis operable to cool the cavity of the container's body such that: 1)when the body holds the plant fibers and the tumbler inside the cavity,and 2) the motor rotates the body to tumble the plant fibers with thetumbler, the plant fibers are cooled to at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a hop's cone.

FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of a process for extracting resins and oilsfrom a plant, such as hops, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of another process for extracting resins andoils from a plant, such as hops, according to another embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of yet another process for extracting resinsand oils from a plant, such as hops, according to yet another embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of another process for extracting resins andoils from a plant, such as hops, upon harvesting the plant, according toanother embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of a device to extract resins andoils from a plant, such as hops, according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of another device to extract resinsand oils from a plant, such as hops, according to another embodiment ofthe invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of a process for extracting resins and oilsfrom a plant according to an embodiment of the invention. The processmay be used to extract resins and/or oils from any desired plant andworks especially well with extracting from hop flowers (hop seed conesor strobiles) the lupulin glands and the alpha acids, beta aids andessential oils that the glands contain. For example, the process may beused to extract essential oils and other terpenes and terpenoidsproduced by lavender. The process includes: 1) tumbling, inside acontainer at a temperature of at most 50 degrees Fahrenheit (F) with atumbler, plant fibers having one or more portions that contain resinsand/or oils; 2) colliding the tumbler with the plant fibers to separatethe one or more portions that contain resins and/or oils from theremainder of the plant fibers; and 3) segregating the one or moreportions that contain resins and/or oils from the remainder of the plantfibers.

As the tumbler and plant fibers tumble in the container, they collideinto each other and into the container. These collisions break the plantfibers into smaller pieces that allow easier access to the organicmaterial of the plant fibers that contain or include the desiredessential oils, terpenes and/or terpenoids. When the collisions of theplant fibers and tumbler occur at a cool temperature, the desiredessential oils, terpenes and/or terpenoids in the smaller portions ofthe plant fibers are less likely to be damaged and/or lost throughevaporation. The cool temperature reduces the volatility of the desiredessential oils causing less oil to evaporate during extraction. The cooltemperature also discourages isomerization of chemical molecules in thedesired terpenes and terpenoids. In other words, while the chaff andother undesirable plant fibers are separated from the desired organicmaterial of the plant, less of the desired organic material, such asessential oils, terpenes and terpenoids, is lost during the process.

For hop flowers, tumbling the plant fibers with a tumbler at atemperature of at most 50 degrees F. allows one to separate much of theunwanted portion of the hops flower—the bract and strig—from the desiredportion—the lupulin gland and the alpha acids, beta acids and essentialoils contained in it—with minimal damage to the lupulin gland. When thehop flowers and the tumbler are tumbled at a temperature of at most 50degrees F., the alpha acids in the lupulin gland are discouraged fromisomerization. If the hop flowers are tumbled with the tumbler when thehop flowers are wet (fresh) or within a couple of days after beingharvested, and the segregated lupulin glands are packaged and stored ina room without light and oxygen, then the lupulin glands and the acidsand oils that they contain can remain very close to fresh if not freshuntil they're used to brew beer. If the hop flowers are tumbled with thetumbler when the flowers are dry (previously dried and/or stored formore than a couple of days), then the lupulin glands and the acids andoils that they contain can remain very close to the degree of freshnessthat they had before they were processed.

Still referring to FIG. 2, the first step 26 in the process includesplacing plant fibers (here hop flowers) that contain desired essentialoils, terpenes, and terpenoids in a container. The container (discussedin greater detail in conjunction with FIGS. 6 and 7) includes a cavityconfigured to hold the plant fibers and allow the plant fibers to tumblewithin the cavity when the container is rotated about a longitudinalaxis (shown in FIGS. 6 and 7) that is aligned with the container'scentral axis.

The next step 28 includes placing a tumbler in the container. Thecombined volume of the plant fibers and tumblers in the container'scavity may be any desired volume that allows one to efficiently processthe plant fibers. For example, in this and other embodiments, thecombined volume is less than half of the volume of the container'scavity. In addition, the tumbler may be configured as desired and theprocess may use any desired number of tumblers that will cause enough,substantial collisions with the plant fibers to quickly separate most ofthe portions of the plant fibers that contain the desired essentialoils, terpenes, and terpenoids from the remaining portions of the plantfibers. For example, in this and other embodiments of the process thetumbler includes about fifty cylinders each having a length of about oneinch and a diameter of about ⅓ of an inch. With this number of tumblersconfigured in this manner, about three pounds of dried hop flowers maybe sufficiently processed in about fifteen minutes.

The tumbler may also be made of any desired material. For example, thetumbler may be made of a metal such as nickel to provide a substantialimpact force when colliding with the plant fibers and that may alsoprovide a catalyst for promoting a chemical reaction to help segregatethe desired essential oils, terpenes and terpenoids, and/or protectingthem during the process. In another example, the tumbler may be made ofwood or some other softer and lighter material to provide less impactforce when colliding with the plant fibers. As the weight of the tumblerincreases, the impact force generated when the tumbler collides with theplant fibers increases. So, if the plant fibers being processed are hardor tough to break, then one may want to use a heavier tumbler. And, ifthe plant fibers being processed are soft or easy to break, then one maywant to use a lighter tumbler. Likewise, the tumbler's configurationalso effects how the tumbler breaks the plant fibers. When the tumblerincludes one or more sharp edges, the breaks in the plant fibers tend tobe clean cuts. And, when the tumbler includes one or more rounded orblunt edges, the breaks in the plant fibers tend to be crushed orsmashed. So, depending on how the particular plant fibers contain thedesired essential oils, terpenes, and terpenoids, one may use a tumblerwith one or sharp edges, one or more blunt edges, or any combination ofthe two.

Other embodiments are possible. For example, the size of each tumblermay be larger than the 1-inch by 0.33-inch cylindrical tumblers, and maybe configured into other geometric shapes and well as an amorphousshape. In other embodiments, the size and shape of each of the tumblersmay vary, that is, may not be substantially uniform. And, in otherembodiments the total number of tumblers used may be more or fewer thanfifty.

The next step 30 includes cooling the inside of the container to 50degrees F. or less to keep the temperature of the plant fibers at 50degrees F. or less while they collide with the tumblers. This may beaccomplished in any desired manner. For example, in this and otherembodiments the tumbler is a solid that sublimates at the ambienttemperature to cool the plant fibers to a tumbling temperature that isless than 50 degrees F. More specifically, in this and other embodimentsthe tumbler includes many pellets of dry ice (frozen CO₂). The pelletsare cylindrical in shape and are approximately 1-inch long by 0.33inches in diameter. For processing hop flowers, these sublimating, solidtumblers work well. In other embodiments, the temperature in the cavityinside the container, and thus the plant fibers being processed, may becooled by injecting cool air into the container's cavity. The cool airmay be generated by any conventional technique, such as a thermodynamicrefrigeration cycle, and then directed into the container's cavity. Instill other embodiments, the cavity inside the container may be cooledby packing ice or some other cool material around the container'scavity.

The next step 32 includes rotating the container to tumble the plantfibers with the tumblers and cause the tumblers to collide with theplant fibers. The container may be rotated at any desired speed thatallows one to efficiently process the plant fibers. For efficientprocessing to occur, the tumbler and plant fibers should tumble insidethe container's cavity, much like clothes in a dryer. If the containerrotates too fast, then the tumbler and/or plant fibers are simply thrownagainst the walls of the cavity and held there by centrifugal force.When this occurs, the tumbler and plant fibers don't collide with eachother and the plant fibers are not broken into small portions. And, ifthe container rotates too slow, then the tumbler and/or plant fiberssimply slide along the walls of the cavity. In this and otherembodiments, the container is rotated at about 60 revolutions perminute. For processing hop flowers, this rotational speed works well.When processing heavier plant fibers or when using a heavier tumbler, afaster rotational speed may be used.

The next step 34 includes segregating the portions of the plant fibersthat contain the desired essential oils, terpenes and/or terpenoids fromthe remaining portions of the plant fibers that don't. Segregating thedesired portions of the plant fibers from the undesired ones may beaccomplished in any desired manner. For example, in this and otherembodiments, a screen having a mesh size that allows the desired plantfiber to pass through it and into a receptacle, and not allow theundesired plant fibers to pass through it into the receptacle is used tofilter out the undesired plant fibers. For processing hop flowers, ascreen having a mesh size of about 0.125 inches works well. In otherembodiments, segregating the desired plant fibers from the undesiredplant fibers may be performed by vibrating the container or blowing airup through the plant fibers to urge the lighter and/or less denseportions of the plant fibers to rise above the heavier and/or more denseportions. This works well if the weight or density of each of thedesired portions of the processed plant fibers is less than the weightor density of the undesired portions.

The next step 36 in the process includes determining whether thesegregated desired plant fibers should proceed through another tumblingstage. In some situations, a single-stage process—a process where theplant fibers tumble and collide with a tumbler, and then are segregatedfrom the undesired plant fibers—may be sufficient to extract theessential oils, terpenes and terpenoids from plant fibers. But, in othersituations, a multiple-stage process—a process where two or moresingle-stage processes are performed on the desired plant fibers—may bedesired. In such situations, one may simply take the desired plantfibers that were segregated during the first process and may processthem again through another single-stage process. For example, in thisand other embodiments, the desired plant fibers may be tumbled with atumbler under the same tumbling conditions as the first process, but maybe segregated from undesired plant fibers with a screen having a finermesh. After this second processing stage is completed, the desired plantfibers may have a higher concentration of the desired essential oils,terpenes and terpenoids, than the desired plant fibers after the firstprocessing stage. For processing hop flowers, multiple-stage processingworks well. For other plants, a single processing stage may suffice.

Other embodiments are possible. For example, the second or subsequentprocessing stage may include tumbling the desired plant fibers with atumbler and/or under tumbling conditions that are different than thetumbler and the tumbling conditions in the first processing stage.

In an example of the process, hop flowers were tumbled with dry icethrough three stages. In the first stage, three pounds of hop flowers aspicked in the fields at an ambient temperature of 82 degrees F. weretumbled for fifteen minutes with six pounds of dry ice (in the form of50 cylindrical pellets 1 inch long by 0.33 inches in diameter) in acontainer having a mesh size of 0.125 inches and at a temperature of 49degrees F. The product that passed through the mesh, out of thecontainer, and into the receptacle, was retrieved and then tumbled againfor fifteen minutes with five pounds of dry ice (in the same form) inanother container with a mesh size of 800 microns. The product thatpassed through the mesh, out of this container, and into the housing,was retrieved and then tumbled again for sixteen minutes with fivepounds of dry ice (in the same form again) in a third container with amesh size of 300 microns. The product that passed through the mesh andout of this third container had a temperature of 34 degrees F.

This final desired product was then tested and compared to hop flowersfrom the same lot that were not processed. The results showed that theconcentrations of the alpha and beta acids increased with a minimaldecrease in the hops-storage-index (HSI). HSI is a way of measuring theshelf life of a hop's flower. It provides an expected loss (percentage)in the desirable alpha acids in the hops flower over a 6-month periodwhen the hop flower is stored at a constant temperature of 68 degrees F.For example, a fresh hop flower that has an amount of desired alphaacids equal to 10% of the whole flower, and an HSI of 25% will have anamount of desired alpha acids equal to about 7.5% when stored for sixmonths at a constant temperature of 68 degrees F. The test results forthe final product that was processed through three stages showed aminimal change in the HSI and a significant increase in the percentageof alpha acids relative to the whole final product. Thus, the processsignificantly increases the amount of desired alpha acid in the finalproduct while causing minimal damage to the alpha acids.

Each of FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 shows a flow chart of another process forextracting resins and oils from a plant, such as hops, according toanother embodiment of the invention. The process shown in FIG. 3 issimilar to the process shown in and discussed in conjunction with FIG.2, except that tumbling the plant fibers and the tumbler in thecontainer's cavity is done in the absence of elemental oxygen (O) ormolecular oxygen (O₂). The process shown in FIG. 4 is also similar tothe process shown in and discussed in conjunction with FIG. 2, exceptthat tumbling the plant fibers and the tumbler in the container's cavityis done in the absence of ultra-violet light. And, the process shown inFIG. 5 is similar to the process shown in and discussed in conjunctionwith FIG. 2, except that a liquid is also placed in the container'scavity with the tumbler and the plant fibers and then the three aretumbled/mixed together.

The liquid used in the process shown in FIG. 5 may be any desiredliquid. For example, in this and other embodiments the liquid is water,which helps protect the desired essential oils, terpenes and terpenoidsfrom damage during the process. In other embodiments, the liquid may bea solvent that helps separate the desired essential oils, terpenes andterpenoids from the undesired plant fibers by dissolving or weakeningthe plant fibers' cellular structure. In still other embodiments, theliquid may be a liquid that helps capture and hold the desired essentialoils, terpenes and terpenoids by mixing with the desired essential oils,terpenes and or terpenoids.

In embodiments that include tumbling/mixing the plant fibers, tumblerand liquid in the container's cavity, the step of segregating thedesired portions of the plant fibers that contain the essential oils,terpenes and terpenoids from the undesired portions of plant fibers mayinclude using a screen with a smaller mesh size than the screendiscussed in conjunction with FIG. 2. In addition, the segregating stepmay include skimming the liquid to remove material that is less densethan the liquid and that is not mixed with the liquid.

Other embodiments are possible. For example, a process for extractingresins and oils from a plant may include any combination of theprocesses shown in FIGS. 2-5 and discussed in conjunction with them.More specifically, a process may include tumbling plant fibers and thetumbler at a temperature 50 degrees F. or less, and in the absence ofelemental oxygen (O) or molecular oxygen (O₂). Or, a process may includetumbling plant fibers and the tumbler at a temperature 50 degrees F. orless, in the absence of elemental oxygen (O) or molecular oxygen (O₂),and in the absence of ultra-violet light. Or, a process may includetumbling plant fibers and the tumbler with a liquid at a temperature 50degrees F. or less, in the absence of elemental oxygen (O) or molecularoxygen (O₂), and in the absence of ultra-violet light.

FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of a device 40, according to anembodiment of the invention. The device may be used to implement one ormore of the processes shown in, and discussed in conjunction with, FIGS.2-5 to extract resins and oils from a plant, such as hops. The device 40includes a container 42 that holds plant fibers 44 (here many but onlythree are labeled for clarity) and a tumbler 46 (here many but only fourare labeled for clarity). The device 40 also includes a motor (notshown) to rotate the container 42 about the axis 48, and a chassis 50that is coupled to the container 42 and that supports the container 42while the motor rotates the container 42 about the axis 48. The devicealso includes a component (shown here as sublimating CO₂ pellets thatare the tumblers 46) that cools the plant fibers 44 to 50 degrees F. orless while the plant fibers 44 are tumbled with the tumblers 46.

In this and other embodiments, the container 42 includes a body 52 thatdefines a cavity 54 in which the plant fibers 44 and the tumblers 46 areheld while they tumbler and collide with each other. The body 52 has afirst region 56 that defines an opening through which the cavity 54 maybe accessed, and a second region 58 that includes a screen 60. Thescreen 60 segregates the desired plant fibers 62 that contain essentialoils, terpenes and terpenoids from undesired plant fibers by allowingthe desired plant fibers 62 to leave the cavity 54. The container 22also includes a lid 64 that forms a seal with the container's body 52when positioned on the body 52. The seal between the lid 64 and thecontainer's body 52 prevents the gas from the sublimating tumblers 46from escaping between the lid 64 and the body 52. This causes the CO₂gas to generate pressure inside the container 42. When enough pressureis generated, the gas is then directed out through the screen 60. Thishelps urge correctly sized plant fiber through the screen 60 where itcan be easily extracted for future use, or tumbled again in a secondstage whose container 22 has a screen 60 with a finer mesh.

In this and other embodiments, the chassis 50 includes a receptacle 66that holds and rotates the container 42 to tumble the plant fiber 44 andthe sublimating tumblers 46. The receptacle 66 also catches and holdsthe desired plant fibers 62 that contain the desired essential oils,terpenes and terpenoids after they pass through the container's screen60. The receptacle 66 includes a seal 68 to prevent the CO₂ gas from thesublimating tumblers 46 from escaping out from the inside of thereceptacle 66, between the container's body 52 and the receptacle 66where the receptacle releasably holds the container 42. The chassis 50also includes a roller 70 that contacts the receptacle 66 and supportsthe receptacle 66 while the motor rotates the receptacle 66 by rotatingabout the axis 72.

The container 42 and receptacle 66 may include any desired material. Forexample, in this and other embodiments, the container 22 includes nickelto help promote the preservation of the essential oils, terpenes andterpenoids held by the plant fibers 44. And, the receptacle 66 includesa ceramic coating to more easily extract the desired plant fibers 62. Inother embodiments, the container 42 and the receptacle 66 may includeother materials.

FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of another device 80, according toanother embodiment of the invention. The device 80 is similar to thedevice 40 shown in, and discussed in conjunction with, FIG. 6 except thechassis 82 of device 80 does not include a receptacle. To support thecontainer 84 while the motor (not shown) rotates the container 84 aboutthe axis 86, the roller 88 of the chassis 82 contacts the container'sbody 90.

The preceding discussion is presented to enable a person skilled in theart to make and use the invention. Various modifications to theembodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, andthe generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments andapplications without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited tothe embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistentwith the principles and features disclosed herein.

1. A method for extracting resins and oils from a plant in the Humulusgenus; the method comprising: tumbling together, inside a container, oneor more tumblers and plant parts containing plant fibers, wherein thecontainer has a temperature of at most 50 degrees Fahrenheit and whereinthe one or more tumblers ae loose inside the container such that thetumbling motion of the one or more tumbler inside the container israndom; colliding the one or more tumblers with plant parts to separateone or more portions that contain resins and/or oils from the remainderof the plant fibers; and segregating the one or more portions thatcontain resins and/or oils from the remainder of the plant fibers. 2.The method of claim 1 wherein the temperature inside the container is 34degrees Fahrenheit.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the tumblerincludes CO₂ in the solid phase.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein thetumbler includes fifty individual tumblers each separate from all theothers.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the plant fibers includelavender.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the plant fibers includehops.
 7. The method of claim 6 wherein the portions of the hops thatcontain resins and oils include lupulin glands of the hops.
 8. Themethod of claim 1 wherein colliding the tumbler with a plant fiberincludes the tumbler falling onto the plant fiber.
 9. The method ofclaim 1 wherein colliding the tumbler with the plant fibers includes thetumbler forcing a plant fiber against the container's side.
 10. Themethod of claim 1 wherein segregating the one or more portions thatcontain resins and oils from the remainder of the plant fibers, includesfiltering the portions from the remainder of the plant fibers with ascreen that forms part of a wall of the container and has a mesh that issized to allow material having a size that is smaller than apredetermined size to pass through the screen and into a receptaclewhile preventing material having a size that is larger than thepredetermined size from passing through the screen.
 11. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising repeating the tumbling, colliding andsegregating steps after the first segregating step is complete. 12.-17.(canceled)
 18. A method for extracting resins and oils from a plantHumulus genus; the method comprising: tumbling together, inside acontainer, one or more tumblers and plant parts containing plant fibers,wherein the container has an atmosphere that does not includeultraviolet light, and wherein the one or more tumblers are loose insidethe container such that the tumbling motion of the one or more tumblersinside the container is random; colliding the one or more tumblers withplant parts to separate one or more portions that contain resins and/oroils from the remainder of the plant fibers; and segregating the one ormore portions that contain resins and/or oils from the remainder of theplant fibers.
 19. The method of claim 18 wherein the atmosphere alsoincludes CO₂.
 20. The method of claim 18 wherein the tumbler includesCO₂ in the solid phase and the atmosphere also includes the CO₂ gasgenerated as the CO₂ in the solid phase sublimates.
 21. The method ofclaim 18 wherein the plant fibers include hops.
 22. The method of claim18 wherein the portions of the hops that contain resins and oils includelupulin glands of the hops.
 23. A device to extract resins and oils froma plant, the device comprising: a container having a body that defines acavity and is operable to hold inside the cavity: plant fibers havingone or more portions that contain resins and/or oils, and a tumbler, thebody having: a first region that defines an opening through which thecavity may be accessed, and a second region; a chassis coupled to thecontainer and operable to support the container while the containerrotates about an axis; a motor operable to rotate the body about theaxis; and a component operable to cool the cavity of the container'sbody such that: when the body holds the plant fibers and the tumblerinside the cavity, and the motor rotates the body to tumble the plantfibers with the tumbler, the plant fibers are cooled to at least 50degrees Fahrenheit.
 24. The device of claim 23 wherein the componentoperable to cool the cavity includes the tumbler.
 25. The device ofclaim 23 wherein the component includes chunks of CO₂ in the solid phasedisposed in the cavity of the container's body that cool the cavity asthey sublimate and that collide with the plant fibers to separate theone or more portions of the fibers that contain resins and/or oils fromthe remainder of the plant fibers.
 26. The device of claim 23 whereinthe component cools the plant fibers to 34 degrees Fahrenheit.
 27. Thedevice of claim 23 wherein: the chassis includes a receptacle thatreleasably holds the container, and the motor rotates the container byrotating the receptacle.
 28. The device of claim 27 wherein the secondregion of the container includes a screen having a mesh sized to allowmaterial having a size that is smaller than a predetermined size to passthrough the screen and contact the receptacle while preventing materialhaving a size that is larger than the predetermined size from passingthrough the screen.
 29. The device of claim 27 wherein: the containerincludes a lid operable to cover the opening of the body and configuredto seal the body's cavity from the ambient environment when the lidcovers the opening; and the receptacle includes a seal configured toseal the inside of the receptacle from the ambient environment when thereceptacle holds the container.